Creation Calls From Deep Within the Heart of Africa
posted on October 5th, 2009 / by Tirzah Warwick / 14 Comments
Mana Pools. The Zambezi. Just hearing these names deeply stirs my heart giving me a deep ache of emotion. Time is forgotten about in this magical place deep in the heart of Africa. The world, by and large, does not know about this little heaven on earth. It has another world beauty about it. It is ancient. Remote. Magical. Wild. Breathtaking. For me there is no place quite like it and it holds a beauty all of it’s own.
Reaching the Zambezi Escarpment ~ an hour’s drive north of my home town of Karoi in northern Zimbabwe ~ is the magnificent Zambezi Valley spreading out as far as the eye can see. This is the southern most tip of the Great Rift Valley which stretches for some 4,000 miles up throughout Africa ending with the Dead Sea in Israel. Standing at the top of this escarpment and looking down over this great expanse of Africa has never failed to take my breath away.
The Zambezi Valley floor down below is covered with stunted, leafless trees burnt by the sun to a grey & broken up occasionally by the Baobab tree or “the upside down tree” as we liked to call them. Many of the Baobab trees have been tusked by elephants and bear the scars of their presence. Everything appears to stand still under the hot blazing sun. There’s not even so much as a whisper of wind. The heat can be oppressive, sapping the energy and life out of anything living. This is in the dry season of course. In the rainy season it is a jungle and the dirt roads become inaccessible unless you have a sturdy 4 wheel drive vehicle to maneuver your way through all the mud.
At the bottom of the escarpment, we turn right on to the seemingly endless, straight, terribly pot-holed & corrugated gravel road which eventually takes us to Mana Pools on the Zambezi River. Reaching Mana Pools the thick and dry bush suddenly gives way to a wide expanse of short grassy plains covered with acacia & mahogany trees. They form an ethereal canopy of beauty under which numerous types of wildlife are found grazing. Here we enter another world, as said, forgotten by both time and the world. It is a sight to behold.
Mana Pools National Park is a world heritage site. Here we can walk freely anywhere from where we’re camped without an armed professional guide ~ as long as were back in camp before dusk when the predators become active. Of course, having grown up in this environment, we are trained since early childhood to strictly obey the rules of the bush. Mana Pools is home to “The Big Five” ~ lions, elephants, leopards, buffalo and rhino. And this was the reason for our many adventures and close calls with the wildlife of the Zambezi Valley which contributed greatly in giving me a rich and deeply memorable childhood.
There are no fences anywhere and so elephants, baboons, hippo, buffalo, hyena, lion and other animals freely roam throughout the various camps. We always had to be alert, especially when going to the bathroom at night. On one occasion a pride of lions chased a herd of buffalo in to a camp while we were there and killed one. We had a sleepless night listening to the pride of lions devouring the buffalo throughout the night, and particularly so with one lion lying not too far from the thin canvas of our tent as we listened with the hairs on our arms standing on end, hardly daring to breath, to his gravely breathing. He seemed but inches away when in reality he was probably a few feet away. Another lion, his belly full, passed within an arm’s reach of our tent. For fear of the lions hearing and pulling us out of the tent which had happened to other people on various occasions in some of the nearby campsites, we kept as quiet as possible.
In my mind’s eye I am taken back to the countless time we would sit in camp, drinking a hot cup of Tanganda tea, while watching the sun set over the mountains on the Zambian side of the Zambezi River. Sitting on the banks of the mighty Zambezi we would listen to and watch the hippos bellow and the crocodiles glide through the peaceful but mighty Zambezi River, just soaking in the sights and sounds of Africa. I see the elephants wondering throughout the camp and occasionally standing on their hind legs to reach their trunks up in to the high branches of the acacia and mahogany trees to gently pull down seed pods. I see them playing in the river & swimming across channels to nearby islands. I miss hearing the haunting and beautiful cry of the Fish Eagle. I miss hearing the lions roar and the hyenas and hippos keeping us up at night. I miss sitting beneath the vast expanse of the night sky of the southern hemisphere where the Milky Way is so incredibly vivid, unpolluted by civilization, feeling so small and realizing how great our God is. This is the Africa I know. This is the Africa I love. How can one not believe in the incredible Creator of the Universe? It is so completely evident that it fills my heart to it’s capacity with praise for the Creator of such breathtaking beauty and vibrant life.
I leave for Africa…tomorrow! Swaziland to be exact. You can imagine my complete delight in reading your post this morning. I desperately want my children to have the beauty of Africa burned in their hearts the way you do, from your childhood. I want them to know God there. And I want them to know that deep ache, as I will soon know it when I return.
We’re connected this morning, in some way. Because the timing on this was all God. So he just made a line from you to me.
Tirzah, you amaze! I love your passion for Africa. It has always been a mystery to me how my sweet beautiful friend could have so bravely encountered wild life that I have only seen on the Discovery channel. I never tire of your tales. THANK YOU for sharing this with us! You remind me that the world is a much bigger place than the suburbs around me. God is so BIG! love you!
Tirzah, what amazing adventures you’ve had! I also feel a connection with God in nature. Your post makes me want to go have a new adventure! Thanks.
That was ama-ZING! thanks so much for sharing!
Such a wonderfully put post about what is very dear to your heart. Thank you for bring us all there with your words. I will always remember the Zambezi valley’s raw beauty and charm, but I will really remember the constant feeling that I could get eaten out here. Thank God that did not happen (Although the hippos tried). It is truly a unique place in God’s creation. You honey are also a unique gift created by God and have a wonderful story to share to our world. Thanks for putting this together, Love you!
Tirzah~that was beautiful! I’ve always wondered what an Acacia tree looked like! You’ve seen them! AWESOME! I think I’ve said to you before…So glad you “survived” your childhoold! Exhilarating and terrifying. Love you friend!
Wow Tirz, your blog is absolutely incredible!!! Well done my friend… so inspirational, and so true about our beautiful Africa, which we sometimes take for granted. Kyla went out with her dad to work this afternoon, and when they got back and George told me Kyla had seen a zebra, I shrugged. But in all reality, we take it for granted that our children get to grow up surrounded by wildlife… A few km’s from us there are Buffalo, Giraffe, Zebra, Kudu… God’s beautiful universe. Thanks for opening our hearts, and keeping us excited for our beautiful Africa that we live in. We are truly blessed, and next time when my little girl see’s a wild animal, I will make sure she knows how we must appreciate such beauty that our amazing God has put right in our back garden of wilderness!!! Thanks so much Tirz!
My darling Tirzah! What a wonderful and beautiful work God did to bring you into our lives! Love always, Mom
Tirzah,
Wow, what an awesome description! Breanna is going on Thursday. I hope she is as brave as you are. I will try to get her to read this. I especially want her to read the part about following all of the rules of the bush! She is in Maryland right now for a pre-missions cleansing. I know she looks up to you and admires your sweet spirit!
This a great post Tirzah! I know I too feel the closeness of the Lord when I am sitting outside listening to His beatuiful creation even if it is in my back yard
What amazing experiences you have had. Thank you so much for sharing these great memories!
Love your heart for Africa! Thank you for painting such beautiful images for all to see. Our lives are filled with many adventures, but most of us only read about places like that while you have been blessed to experience it! Thanks again for sharing your heart!
Behind on my blog reading, I am reading this one days late…but not really. My best friend, Coli, left for Africa yesterday but will not actually arrive until tomorrow. She’s there on her personal mission trip – she will be ‘living’ in an orphanage, among children her heart has longed to adopt for years now.
Reading this made my heart flutter for her and for this trip God has arranged for her. Her heart has beat for Africa for so many years and your blog has given me a glimpse into the beauty that awaits her.
Thank you for opening Africa’s doors for us here. I can only imagine that this is but the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the depth of stories you have inside you.
TIRZAH!!!
I love that the love of Africa calls from your heart! Your blog carried me away to another time and place causing me to pause and soak in the majesty of our incredibly creative God. You painted on my heart with you words:)
I love who you are … the purity of your heart always shines through in all you write … thank you for sharing Africa with me!
Great Love!
~Ris
Thank you for taking us there! The awesomeness of His creation did not begin to unveil in my heart until I realized that His beauty was so awesome beyond these Dallas concrete walls I thought I loved! My first trip when my husband wisked me away to Colorado, He showed me His beauty that was like the first bouquet of flowers I had ever seen!!! I couldn’t believe how close I felt to the Father there and His nature is no longer “dirty’ to me because now I feel like dancing in the revelation of His gift of amazing creation! Wow! Your story is awesome!!